This Week, We ‘Ave Mostly Been Playing… #6

Have you melted yet?

Across the world many of us are being faced with heatwaves, and we have to admit, it puts us off gaming a little. It’s fun shooting demons in the face with a shotgun when you’re comfortable, but when you’re sweating your knackers off and simply feel exhausted it’s just a bit arduous. And forget about VR. Putting a VR headset on at the moment is like self-inflicted torture.

Anyway, despite many of us struggling with the heat, we have still played plenty of games this week. Want to know what they are? Read on, amigos!

Rich: For no real reason, I’ve been playing a bit of Forza Motorsport 7this week. I forgot just how gorgeous it looks on Xbox One X to be honest, and I’ve still got so much content to play through. Me and Kim have also got a little bit addicted to Diablo 3 again. Who knows how long it will have us in its grasp this time.

Kim: Yeeep, as Rich says, the horadrim have us firmly back in their grips. I’ve without a doubt sunk more hours into Diablo 3 on various formats than any other game, ever. It’s something we’ll go several months without playing, and randomly one of us will decide to “have a quick go on Diablo”. And a “quick go on Diablo” usually translates to every spare moment over the course of several weeks. Let’s see how long this particular addiction lasts.

I’ve created a new character for the current Season 14 – a Crusader – so starting from scratch means that so much of that sweet, sweet loot still awaits. Having just finished playing through the story (for what must be at least the 12th time), we’re now powering through rifts and bounties. Oh Diablo. The things you do to me.

When I’ve not been bashing demons in search of loot, I’ve been playing Crossing Souls on Switch, which is every bit as lovely as I’d hoped it would be. I’ve also dabbled with Hot Pink, a Breakout-inspired game on Steam, and Volantia, which is a rather sweet world-building sim.

Crossing Souls

Jack: In what is surely a surprise (not), I’ve been playing more Warframe. Despite torrid side effects from some new meds, I still managed to do relic and vault runs with ‘the lads’. This was my first time getting to try out the Octavia frame too, and I’m looking forward to levelling up, using the sequencer and kitting her out. There is still so much to do in Warframe – I keep finding new personal goals to strive for that keep me going.

Relaxing on the sofa feeling bleurgh means that I’ve also had a fair bit of time to chill out with No Man’s Sky following its big update. I find it amusing that a game primarily about freedom in exploring any which way in space seemingly needed structure to it. The through line and the early hours teaching you all the mechanics in hindsight now looks like it was sorely needed from the beginning. In general, NEXT gives No Man’s Sky more direction, and a bigger breadth of things to work on besides going to the centre of the galaxy.

No Man’s Sky

Matt: I’ve been grinding through the Solstice of Heroes event for Destiny 2. Any added content to the game is fine by me! Although some of the bounties and missions are a bit repetitive, they do offer a great challenge. With Forsaken around the corner, you can feel the anticipation building in the community. It’s exciting; to feel the same energy that once existed in Destiny.

Destiny 2

Chris: After dabbling with it briefly, I’m playing my way through Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag. The on-land missions are reasonably entertaining but what’s really floating my boat is the naval combat and ocean exploration sections. I’ve spent hour upon joyous hour roaming the oceans, braving storms, pillaging ships and even watching other craft attack each other.

That said, the real world section of Black Flag infuriated me when I wasn’t allowed to progress without hacking someone’s computer at the request of an IT Manager. This wasn’t part of my in-game job, nor was I supposed to be engaging in industrial espionage. Anyone in their right mind would report this to their boss, especially on the first day on the job, but Black Flag clumsily denied me that option.

Black Flag

Becca: This week I played the quick, 30 minute story-driven game Radiant One. I went into it with little idea what to expect, but it turned out to be rather fantastic. It’s an interesting look into the effects of lucid dreaming and allows players to follow main character Daniel as he experiences beautiful and traumatising dream sequences. It may be one of the shortest games I’ve played but it’s extremely easy to pick up and finish it in one sitting, making it accessible for all kinds of people no matter their skill level.

I’ve also played a huge amount of…. well, I can’t tell you. It’s embargoed. But it’s fantastic, so do look out for my review of it on Tuesday morning.

Radiant One

Want to get in touch and let us know what you’ve been playing this week? Tweet us @game_spew. Have a great weekend, everyone!